Chapter 20 - The Price of a Blessing

“Anomaly?” Tiberius asked while trying to calm himself down.

Rael answered, "Yes, anomaly, in one way or another, neither of us is a part of this world. For this reason, Gyoz does not see us as a danger.

“Threat? Anomaly?” Tiberius looked around to make sure there was no monster around them so he could sit down because he felt that this conversation was going to be a long one.

“Don't worry,” said Rael, sensing his worry. “No monster can come nearby because of it,” he added, pointing at Gyoz.

Tiberius still did not understand what it meant but still sat down next to him. “Can you please explain what you mean? You just throw random information and expect me to understand it. I am not that smart,” he said, trying to explain his frustration with Rael’s actions.

“Okay,” he said, after letting out a loud sigh, “Let’s start with the one in front of us. What do you know about the Gyoz?”

“Well, let’s see.” Tiberius scratched his head a bit. “Seven-eyed big monster, unbeatable, and the reason why Tanshy is called Devil’s Land,” he said, from Rovshen’s speech.

“Not bad, you know the classics,” Rael gave a smile, “but there is more than that.”

“Like?”

“Like why people are scared of it and can’t even fight it. However, to understand it, you need to know what mana is and how it wo—”

“I actually know,” Tiberius interrupted him. “Mana is basically energy of living things that can be used for various things, mostly magic and machines. I learned it at magic school, but I gave it up because I couldn't gather any mana," he said.

Rael’s eyes widened, and eyebrows rose up a bit. “Honestly, I am impressed. You know more than I expected. You are right, mana is the energy of living things, and also yes, you do not have even a drop of mana,” he added, with a smile that annoyed Tiberius a bit. “But don’t worry, you can use that to your advantage.”

“Advantage?” He frowned. “In a world where magic rules, having no mana is nowhere near having an advantage. I have been attacked by prince and if it wasn’t for Rovshen and Charles, I would be dead.”

“Yareth attacked you?” Rael exclaimed, “I knew he would be mad but attacking you? Didn’t expect that, honestly.”

“Now, you see? I have zero advantage over you guys. I am even weak against a flower,” he said, remembering the purple flower he saw with Jack.

“But it can’t detect you, right?” Rael said, “The flower doesn’t even know if you exist.”

“Yes, but if it had eyes, it could.” Tiberius said, then slowly looked toward Gyoz, “Then why didn’t Gyoz attack me? It has more than enough eyes to see me. Is it because I don’t have mana?” he asked, looking back at Rael.

“Good thing that you realized it yourself,” Rael said as he let out a giggle. “Yes, the reason it doesn't attack you is because you don't have mana.”

Rael put his hand in his pocket and took out a small mana battery, then smashed it between his fingers and threw it away from both himself and Gyoz. The moment mana leaked out of the battery, Gyoz immediately turned around and looked towards it aggressively. This scared Tiberius. He got up and wanted to run, but he sat back down and watched Gyoz's movements after noticing Rael's confidence.

It walked toward the leaking battery, picked it up, and focused on it. A few seconds passed. It threw the battery and sat down there, closing its eyes slowly, probably to sleep.

“The thing you saw is the reason they call Gyoz unbeatable. As you also saw in the carriage, when you enter Gyoz’s zone, it absorbs every last drop of mana you have, taking all your life energy away and leaving your soulless body as a meal for other animals. It feeds with mana infinitely, without an unknown level of fullness," explained Rael.

“And if you can't get closer, you can't beat it. Makes sense,” Tiberius added. “Does that mean I can beat it?”

“I don't think there is a need to beat it,” Rael replied, then he stood up and picked a stone from the ground, throwing it as far as he could. Neither he nor Tiberius saw where it went, since it was too fast for an eye to catch it. “Everything in this world has a meaning, has a reason to exist. Gyoz also has one probably,” he said, picking up another rock. “I call it The Balance instead of The Devil. He balances this world's magic, and even some animals benefit from it. The places it walks lose all of their mana, which creates a place for free food for the animals on lower levels of the food chain. It also prevents anyone from entering the Tanshy, protecting the nature in one way.”

Saying this, he threw another rock and turned toward Tiberius and said, “That is why I say, we are an anomaly of this world.”

“Now that you explained, it makes sense. So we—" He stopped suddenly. ‘Did Rael say “we”?’ He thought and only now things started to be clear for him. Why Gyoz did not see him as a threat, why he was slightly taller than average, why he was obsessed with him, and why he used raw strength rather than magic (at least from what he had witnessed).

“Now everything makes sense!” Tiberius said excitedly, raising his voice, “You are not from here either, are you?”

Rael smirked. “No, I was born here,” he said.

“Then how come you don't have mana?”

“My situation is a little different and I don't think you need to know about it yet.”

“Why? It is only fair if I learn, don't you think?”

“First, I am not sure about it myself. Second is I do not wanna talk about it. Third is don't ask me again or I might break a bone or two from you.” He replied with a smile.

Immediately, Tiberius stopped talking about it and changed the topic. “Was this the reason you called me here? I believe you could explain this to me without putting us in danger.”

“Of course I could. But I was going to show you something else. We just came here to see this so you could understand what you are to us.” Then Rael looked around, as if he was searching for something. “This way, let’s go,” he called to Tiberius to follow him, which he did.

A few minutes passed, and Tiberius was still following Rael. On their way, they didn't face any monster or animal as Rael mentioned; they were still in Gyoz's absorption zone.

Suddenly, the stench of bodies hit them. Rael seemed unaffected, even though he did make a slight sour face, but Tiberius had to hold his nose with his hand because the smell was getting stronger with each step. “Now I understand ‘The Balance.’ There are really dead animals, but can we change the route slightly? I'm going to puke if I smell a little more of this,” he offered with a funny voice.

“Smell means we are close to our destination,” Rael replied.

“Don't tell me we are going to the source of it!” Tiberius exclaimed, but it still sounded a little funny since he was still holding his nose.

“Yes, sadly, it is our destination.”

“Shit,” he mumbled, “should have brought a mask.”

A few more minutes passed. “How long until we reach there?” Tiberius asked.

“We are here,” Rael said, pointing at a hole a few meters ahead.

“You brought me here to see a hole,” Tiberius said, taking a few steps forward to see what is in there, and when he saw the source of it, he held his stomach immediately. The mix of smell and the view—he couldn't stop himself from puking everything he had eaten on that day because of them.

After a few minutes, he tried to calm himself down by breathing from his nose and trying to steady his heartbeat. He asked, “What is this?”

“This is a result of God's actions.” Rael said with a disgusted expression on his face.

It wasn't surprising for Rael to see Tiberius puke the moment he saw all the bodies in that hole. This is where hundreds, if not thousands, of bodies lay. The majority of the bodies had only died after being amputated, changing into a different species, or evolving into something else entirely. Some of them had their genitalia removed, while others were headless, had their limbs severed, or had their eyes removed from their sockets. They were thrown into this hole with some of their organs torn from their bodies and their wounds left open. Some of the bodies were skeletons with nothing on them at all.

The mutated bodies were the most disgusting of the bunch. They either possessed wings, enormous appendages, or simply inexplicable body parts that were not found in any daha or human body. It was clear from the appearance that none of the mutations were successful and that these individuals had either passed away before, during, or after the mutation.

But it was hardly the worst part. The worst aspect is that all of the bodies here belonged to children who were taken by angels to the gods.